Stretched out along the canal they lie, from Wolvercote to Hythe Bridge, in every shade and hue, from psychedelic hippy swirls, via sensible dark-blue college livery, to load-bearing gunmetal greys and rusty blacks.
And it’s not just the canalboats themselves which fascinate. It’s what’s on their roofs, what’s on their decks, and what’s around them, on the tow-path and the patches of land alongside: tables, fuel cans, bicycles, wheelbarrows, ropes, flowerpots, kindling, solar panels and mini-wind turbines, not to mention cats and the occasional dog …
There’s a whole world here, and a whole history. For the canal, which is now a place for domestic dwelling and day-trip recreation, was once the site of intense work, an industrial artery pulsing through the heart of England. With its opening, on 1 January 1790, Oxford was transformed.
Tons of material poured down these narrow waters – mostly coal from the Midlands, pottery and slate. Wharves sprung up along its edges. Their remains can still be conjured up at Juxon Street and Hayfield Road. The now-reedy air was once thick with the sound of goods being offloaded, the hollers of the men at the waterside, the clip of hooves and the clinking of dray horse harnesses …
A few years ago there were dastardly plans to ‘develop’ the Jericho boatyard to create ‘affordable’ (i.e. expensive) housing; but the noble citizens of that parish banded together to scotch the scheme and insist on their own community centre and boatyard. One of their doughtiest supporters, Mark Davies, who lived on the canal for nearly thirty years, leads fascinating towpath walks, unlocking the waterway’s rich and characterful history.
There is occasional talk of opening up the canal basin beyond Hythe Bridge once more. What a wonderful thing it would be if such a marina could be created in the heart of the city! (But think how much car parking revenue would be lost to Nuffield College.)
It’s still a favourite walk, along the towpath, past the swans, ticking off the names of the canalboats on the way, admiring their different personalities – and peering over to the gardens on the other side of the bank, where life still seems to flourish in all its variety.
A list of all the named canalboats from Hythe Bridge Street to the Plough Inn, Wolvercote,
one sunny day a while ago:
Hythe Bridge
Ben
Arden
Heron
Frideswide
Willow
Lands End
Coracle
Wind Fish
Kilsby
Golden Dancer
Gremlins Castle
Rhoda May
Bill the Lizard
Penguins Progress
Isis Lock Bridge (243)
Begriffsschiff
Up Spirits
Tara
Harmony
Unicorn
Keble
Hertford
Balliol
(College Cruisers)
Serendipity
Black Dog
Jericho Footbridge (242)
221B
Dalingo
Walton Well Bridge (241)
Baseplate
Merlin
Aristotle Bridge (240)
The Venturer
Worcester
Esmeralda
Frenchay Bridge (239A)
Alberta
(238B)
Celtic Kiwi
‘Six Pence’
Songlines
Halcyon
Galileo
St Edwards (238)
Saorsa
Mornington Crescent
Bombayduck
Cordula
Hieronymus Peypes
Railway Bridge (236A)
Wolvercote Bridge (236)
Feedback
How did the Oxford Canal Festival come about? Councillor James Fry, its chief fund-raiser and former Chair, explains the background:
A modest Festival was first organised by the Canal & River Trust several decades ago. It then stopped but was revived in 2010. Given the large amount of work entailed and the difficulty charging for entry (there are many access points to the site) we decided to hold it every two years, which allows us time to fund-raise for the following Festival. We also agreed to manage it via a CIC (Community Interest Company) with four directors from the immediate locale and an army of volunteers taking charge of the myriad different activities.
You can see a video of the 2022 festival below:
The website for this year’s festival can be found here
Thanks to Frances Goodge for these photos from the last Canal festival:
Steph Pirrie is one of the Three Idle Women (never was an adjective so inaccurate.) She writes:
The music stage is always great, and this year you can enjoy Papa Nui, The Mambo Panthers, The Dirty Big Canal Dance Band, Jali Film Cossokho, The Weekend Warriors, and the Three Idle Women and Ben Avison.
Back by popular demand is the dog show (with classes like the ‘waggiest tail’ and the ‘dog which looks most like its owner’) … And don’t forget the Canal Olympics (classic games like Tug of War alongside canal-themed shenanigans, such as Egg and Windlass, and backwards running races).
Sophie Stanley takes up the heart-lifting story of The Kilsby Theatre Boat, details of which are available here. She writes:
Getting involved with Kilsby in the first place was an easy decision: I live on a boat, I work in the arts, and I love community projects. I’ve stayed involved for several years because I keep meeting amazing people, and because I think the canal in Oxford needs a ‘third place’. By that I mean a space that is not the towpath, or a private or commercial boat, but a floating space where people from all walks of life can get together and enjoy our wonderful waterways. Kilsby is old, and being inside historic boats feels like stowing away in an ancient whale’s rib cage. In an age when so many things are dumped into a landfill, and a newer model hastily built to replace it, I love that the Kilsby project is devoting time and volunteered energy to giving something old and worn out a tremendous new lease of life.
Attached is a picture of me and Kilsby at Tooley’s boatyard:
Duncan Taylor lives near the canal. He has a wonderful eye for detail:
Canal boats don’t just live on canals of course; they often find exciting expression on the river. We received this fabulous photo from Merlin Matthews who spends winters moored on the canal in central Oxford and summers moving between Abingdon and Oxey Mead.
We aren’t sure who (or what) Fellows and Ambler were (or are), let alone Worsnop … We simply loved this image of the boat gliding along, past Port Meadow.
Ken Norman has made it his mission to cruise around the canals of England (including Oxford) writing as he goes. We take this opportunity to draw attention to his marvellous compendium of floating boat-names … Cheer’s Ken!
